December 30, 2024: Firepower is a multifunction tool in combat. For example, during the 1999 Chechnya War in the Caucasus Russian troops used firepower intensive tactics to take Chechen capital of Grozny. The Chechens were fighting from trenches and the rubble of buildings. Chechen tactics emphasized mobility, especially at night. But the Russians had learned to set up tight security at night and then use their firepower effectively to pound any Chechen fighters that resisted. Progress was slow, with progress measured in hundreds of meters. Before darkness falls, the Russians have to set up defensive positions, for the Chechens still owned the night. The Chechen war dragged on for a year before Russia turned to one of the most powerful pro-Russian Chechen warlords and told him he could run Chechnya any way he wanted. Russia supplied cash and supplies and the warlord supplied peace.

Islamic terrorists

Counter-terrorism commanders on the spot are in a no-win situation. If they do not order using firepower to keep civilians and enemy infiltrators away from your troops, then he has to suffer losses when the enemy infiltrators get behind friendly lines and begin ambushing American troops. This use of civilians, illegal according to the laws of war, was promoted by political and religious zealots throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. It wasn’t just the Americans who faced this problem and the solution adopted was to shoot back at the gunmen hiding among the civilians. The civilians hit the ground or flee, then the two antagonists completed their battle without civilians in the way.

Israel and EBO

There was a big debate in Israeli military circles as to exactly what happened in the 2006 war in Lebanon. The Israeli military claimed they were conducting EBO effects-based operations. EBO means planning, executing and assessing operations to attain the effects required to achieve desired national security objectives. Many Israeli generals and politicians believed the military were just doing business as usual in 2006. That meant just using firepower to crush the enemy. The enemy, Hezbollah, was expecting that, and was deployed to survive the firepower, and inflict casualties on the Israelis. Hezbollah knew it could declare a victory to its Arab supporters if they avoided being destroyed. But Hezbollah leaders believed they could do more than just survive. They didn't. but just surviving a direct confrontation with the Israeli military was a big deal.

Many Israelis question whether EBO actually has any validity at all. That misses the point. With EBO, it's garbage in, garbage out. If you don't ask the right questions, EBO won't help you. Most Israelis understand that they certainly didn't think out the PR aspects of their 2006 operations very carefully. Usually, the Israelis are able to get inside the heads of their Arab opponents. But not in 2006 with Hezbollah. The results of this debate were classified, only to be revealed the next time there is a war with Hezbollah. That happened in 2024 when Israeli forces destroyed Hezbollah.

World War II

When telephones and radio got their first workout during the 1914-18 World War I, more thoughtful military men noticed how these new electronic gadgets allowed information to travel a lot faster across the chaos of the modern battlefield. But all this was theoretical, because telephone lines were often cut on the World War I battlefields, and the radios of the day weren't very portable.

By the time 1939-45 World War II came along, there were a lot of portable radios. Even before that, in the 1930s, American artillery officers figured out a way to get a radio or telephone message from, anywhere along miles of front line, from someone wanting a lot of firepower applied to one target and within an hour, have the fire from hundreds of artillery guns hitting that target. This 1940s era marvel scared the hell out of the Germans but required a lot of work. There were no computers to do all the calculations required and the artillery spotter up front could make a fatal error when reporting the position of the target.

The Sniper Revolution

This led to wider use of snipers in 21st Century wars U.S. troops were involved in. About ten percent of American troops were qualified and equipped for this kind of shooting. Snipers alone have greatly changed American infantry tactics. Using night vision scopes, small UAVs, and personal radios for every soldier, American infantry battalions can quickly deploy a dozen or more two-man sniper teams that will turn a large area into a deathtrap for enemy forces.

Snipers are backed by infantry that fire much more accurately than their counterparts in World War II did. At the same time, massed artillery fire is a thing of the past. Many American artillery battalions have been disbanded. U.S. artillery units now use a lot fewer, but much more precise, shells and rockets. For example, the GPS guided MLRS rocket has been in use for several years now. This 227mm weapon delivers a 100 kg warhead as accurately as a 227 kg JDAM GPS guided bomb. When it comes to bombs, smaller and more accurate is what the infantry prefer. That's because, once the bomb goes off, the grunts want to get in there and capture or kill the survivors before the shell shock wears off. The blast radius of larger 227 and 505 kg aerial bombs, especially unguided ones, means friendly troops have to stay several hundred meters away. Thus the ideal weapon would be GPS guided shells. Soon American 155mm artillery units were using GPS equipped Excalibur shells. Infantry commanders are particularly fond of this 45 kg shell, as it allowed their troops to be as close as across the street from the target.

This produces another unique battlefield sound portrait. You know American troops are at work when one shell goes off, followed by a few shots. Much less shouting and booming. American troops use individual radios, hand signals, and night vision equipment. They move fast, using minimal firepower, which means less risk of friendly fire or civilian casualties or property damage. Battlefields have never sounded this quiet.

Because less fire power means a quieter battlefield, that enables better trained troops, who know what to listen for, more opportunities to use their ears to sort out what is going on. Silence can be a weapon. Precision weapons also reduce resupply problems, especially closer to the battle zone. Less wear and tear on the weapons as well.